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Frenemies Reading the short story “recitatif” I found a couple quotes that show how the relationship between Twyla and Roberta is frenemy-like. As kids, Roberta and Twyla got along because they were the outcasts- the only ones in the orphanage whose parents hadn’t died, but just didn’t want their kids. Sharing this same experience and the feelings that come along with it, they bonded and became friends. But as they grew up, they grew apart and began to have more problems. On one occurrence when they met, there was a lot of hostility between them that led to confrontation. During this, Roberta said, “Maybe I am different now, Twyla. But you’re not. You’re the same little state kid who kicked a poor black lady when she was down on the ground. You kicked a black lady and have the nerve to call me a bigot.” This quote shows how their friendship is unstable and how there is still some resentment built up after many years. On another occasion that they met, it was a much more positive expe
The short story “There will come soft rains” and the current global crisis are comparable and seem to have a lot of similarities. With COVID-19, it feels like life has stopped. Daily activities have come to a halt and people are forced to stay inside. Simply going to the grocery store almost feels like a war-zone, filled with panic and fear as people are trying to get in and out as quickly as possible. However, since people are staying inside, the world and nature outside is changing. This is similar to what happens in “There will come soft rains”. In this story, even though mankind has been wiped out because of nuclear warfare, nature continues to presume. For example, China saw blue skies for the first time in many years, after they shut down their factories because of the virus. Even though the world seems to be shut down- nature continues. Even though COVID has made us feel like the world has stopped, it hasn’t. That is similar to how in this story, despite the fact that the owners
“The Messenger” If I was able to change the title of one of the stories that we’ve read so far, I would change the title of “The Comet” By W.e.b DuBois. The name is not specific to this story at all. I feel as though short stories are better when you first start reading the story, it’s not completely clear why that is the title. An example of this is one of the short stories we read in class, “The Semplica-Girl Diaries” by George Saunders. At first, the reader may be slightly confused as to why this is the title of the short story. It is obvious that it is a series of diary entries because of the dates and how it is written, but the title becomes more clear later in the story when you find out what a Semplica-Girl is. When you first start reading this story, it’s obvious that it is going to be about a comet. I would change the title of the story to something a little less obvious such as “The Messenger”. Throughout the story, especially in the beginning, Jim is referred to as “Th

"The Comet" with a more wholesome ending

Story Ending “Julia,” he whispered, “my darling, I thought you were gone forever”. After recovering from the trauma, they began to travel through New York, searching for any survivors. They were unable to find anyone, but settled in a rural area near Long Island, away from the corpses and and pain and suffering leftover from the world they used to live in. They sat together, with their hands interlocking as they watched the sunset in the distance, trying to forget the desolate city that they left behind. “Our world is gone,'' she replied,with tears welling up in her eyes. “I know. We’re the last ones, the last living people,'' he said as he gripped her hand tighter. “We can start over,'' she said, “and live our lives together in peace, away from the pain and suffering we once knew.” She noticed a small smile on his face, the first she had seen in a while. They didn’t know what would happen next, now that they were the only ones left. But in that moment, the onl
For the last few years, being at Uni, I have had a lot of stress that I’ve had to learn how to manage, and it hasn’t been easy to say the least. For all of Sophomore and Junior year, the fear of college was always on my mind. This only added more stress to the academic and social stress that I was already dealing with. Honestly, I never handled it very well, and I would feel anxious a lot of the time. But a couple months ago, I was on Youtube at like 2 a.m, scrolling through and watching random videos. I clicked on a video that changed how I viewed life. It was this guy giving a speech, and the first thing he said was “YOU’RE ONLY 17!”. This immediately caught my attention because I had just turned 17. He then went on to say how at 17 you don’t need to have the rest of your life figured out, and that it’s okay to make mistakes. This really resonated with me because I had really been trying to get good grades, and stressing myself out so much in the process. He then continued to say, “y
When I was around fourteen, I read T he Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. This book is about a fifteen year old boy named Charlie, who is trying to cope with the suicide of his best friend. It is written as a series of letters to an anonymous person who he refers to as his “friend.'' Charlie thinks of himself as a “wallflower”, meaning that he stays on the sidelines and would rather observe things instead of being the center of attention. He is very introspective, and views life differently than most people. A lot of the time, the term “wallflower” has a negative connotation, where it could refer to someone who is socially awkward. But after reading this book, my view on the “wallflower” type of person was changed. When I started reading this book, I immediately felt a connection to it. Growing up, I was always more shy and reserved, and I never liked that about myself. People would always ask me, “why don’t you ever talk?”. And it wasn’t usually because I w
At the beginning of eighth grade, I walked into Uni-- a place where I didn’t know anyone, and had no idea of what to expect. I grew up in Danville, a completely different place than Uni High. They were both opposite extremes, and I didn’t realize the culture shock that I would experience going to Uni. The aspect of Uni that personally affected me the most was the different kind of people. Most of the students in Danville weren’t very focused on school. A large majority of them got bad grades, even though the subject matter was pretty easy-- simply because they didn’t try. I was always considered “smart” compared to the other students, and I worked really hard to get good grades. This caused a lot of stress though, because I made myself get all A’s, and I became a perfectionist. It got to the point where I would freak out if I even got a 90 in class. But I was different than most of the people around me because they didn’t care about their grades. And since I didn’t feel like I fit in,